Household refrigerators commonly include an icemaker to automatically make ice. The icemaker includes essentially an ice mold for forming ice cubes and a supply of water. Heat is removed from the liquid water within the mold to form ice cubes. After the cubes are formed they are harvested from the mold. The harvested cubes are typically retained within a bin or other storage container. The storage bin may be operatively associated with an ice dispenser that allows a user to dispense ice from the refrigerator without opening the refrigerator door.
It can be advantageous to have the ice bin located remotely from the icemaker, especially in refrigerators that have the freezer compartment mounted below the fresh food compartment. According to one known design, the icemaker is located within an insulated icemaking compartment contained within or adjacent to the fresh food compartment, and the ice storage bin is located on the fresh food door.
An ice flow passageway must be provided to permit the ice cubes to move from the icemaker to the ice storage bin. When the icemaking compartment is located in the cabinet and the ice storage area is located on the door, there is a breakable joint along the ice flow passageway. It is preferred that this joint be insulated and sealed to prevent the cold air from the ice making compartment and ice storage area from bleeding into the fresh food compartment. When the fresh food compartment door is opened, the cross-section of the passageway on the cabinet side is left open to ambient air. Furthermore, it can be visually unattractive to leave the cabinet-side of the passageway open when the fresh food door is opened.
Therefore, it has been known to include a flap or door that closes the ice flow passageway when the fresh food door is opened. This flap can impede the flow of ice from the icemaker to the ice bin and can impede the flow of air from the icemaking compartment to the ice storage area. One solution that permits flow of ice and air when the fresh food door is closed is a push button or lever that is activated by the door being brought into close proximity to the cabinet that causes the flap to rotate to an open configuration. However, this activation mechanism increases the complexity and cost of the refrigerator, as well as detracting from the clean appearance of the cabinet.
The present invention is an improvement over existing designs.